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Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Book Review: The Width of the World by David Baldacci

Title: The Width of the World

Author: David Baldacci

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Review

Vega Jane is a teenage Wug and until recently was a resident
of Wormwood village. Her entire life was shaped by two facts — a) nothing
exists outside the grim village of Wormwood, and b) there’s no way to
cross the monster-filled Quag. However, these facts are nothing but lies. And
once she learns this truth, her life changes for ever. Along with her friend
Delph, she breaks out of Wormwood and makes it through the deadly Quag alive only
to find a wall. The key to the world on the other side is a ring that once
belonged to her grandfather. When the duo reach the village, they are in for
more surprises.

For the first time, they find themselves among people who
aren’t governed by fear. But Vega Jane starts to suspect that this new world might
be even more dangerous than the treacherous place they have left behind. She
confronts the Maladons — malign magicians who have ruled everywhere else for
eight centuries over a populace brainwashed into mindless contentment.The cheerful citizens have
paid a high price for their comfort; they’ve been enslaved and don’t even
realize it. To set the innocent people free from the clutches of the evil
Maladons, she recruits and trains a small army of magicians to fight back while
effecting rescues and eluding multiple ambushes with help from a ring of
invisibility and different spells.

The thing about a book series is that you can’t just pick
out any book in random and expect to understand everything that is going on.
This is what happened with me. Without being initiated into the dystopian world
that David Baldacci has erected with meticulous details over the last two books
already, I just dived in headfirst and found myself floundering. It took me a
while to get to know the back story, but once I did, things became easier.

Baldacci’s writing style is easy to comprehend and makes for
a quick read. The book is aimed for a younger audience and comes with
illustrations. With a style similar to that of the Harry Potter series,
Baldacci has created an entire universe filled with creatures and characters
unique to his dystopian world. He surely knows how to spin a tale and make the
unbelievable realistic. Hooked readers will be tapping their fingers
waiting for the sequel.

Buy Link

About the Author

David Baldacci is a worldwide bestselling writer. He writes
books for children and adults and they are published in over forty-five
different languages and in more than eighty countries and with more than 110
million copies in print, he is one of the world's favourite storytellers. The
Finisher was his first book for young adults and film rights have been bought,
with the producer of Spiderman attached. The Width of the World is the third
book in the Vega Jane sequence, following on from The Finisher and The Keeper.
David is the co-founder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation,
a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating illiteracy across America.
David is still a resident of his native Virginia.

I'd
like to thank the author for letting me review the book. I do hope you end up
liking the book when you read it. Thank you so much for stopping by, and happy
reading!

* I received a review copy
from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.